Published By: CHINA BUSINESS HERALD NEWS WEEKLY

Time: 03/05/2026

This morning (the 5th), the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress opened in Beijing, and Premier Li Qiang delivered the government work report.

According to the Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, the State Council has prepared the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China (Draft) and submitted it to the National Congress for review.

Main Objectives

To implement the main objectives clarified by the Party Central Committee’s proposals, the outline (draft) further specifies 20 main indicators.

In terms of economy, three indicators are proposed focusing on growth, structure and efficiency. Among them, considering both domestic and international situations as well as various factors, and balancing needs with feasibility, it is proposed that GDP growth be maintained within a reasonable range, with annual adjustments based on circumstances, laying a foundation for doubling per capita GDP by 2035 compared with 2020, and reaching the level of moderately developed countries. In terms of innovation-driven development, three indicators are proposed focusing on innovation investment and its outcomes. Fully taking into account the growth trend of R&D investment and enterprises’ capacity to invest, it is proposed that the annual average growth of total social R&D expenditure exceed 7%, in line with the objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan, ensuring that the intensity of R&D investment is not reduced. In terms of people’s well-being, in order to better address the urgent problems of the public, seven targeted indicators are proposed relating to employment, income, education, healthcare, health, and elderly care and child care. In terms of green and low-carbon development, five indicators are proposed focusing on carbon reduction, pollution control, and ecological protection. According to the national contribution targets, it is proposed that CO2 emissions per unit of GDP be cumulatively reduced by 17%, continuing to promote green and low-carbon transformation in key sectors. In terms of security assurance, two indicators are proposed focusing on food and energy production capacity, aiming to consolidate the important fundamental guarantees of national security.

Major Strategic Tasks

The “Outline (Draft)” elaborates on the major strategies during the 15th Five-Year Plan across various sectors, highlighting four aspects.

Focus on Promoting High-Quality Development

Promoting new quality productivity is an intrinsic requirement of high-quality development. The “Outline (Draft)” emphasizes the guiding role of technological innovation, focusing on consolidating and strengthening the real economy, and building a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone. It aims at achieving high-level technological by ourselves, enhancing original innovation and tackling key core technologies, and advancing the construction of Digital China, with the added value of core industries in the digital economy reaching 12.5% of GDP. It also focuses on building a Beautiful China, continuously advancing pollution prevention efforts and ecosystem optimization, accelerating the formation of green production and lifestyle patterns, and ensuring that the carbon peak target is achieved on schedule.

Focus on Strengthening the Domestic Economic Cycle

In the face of a complex and severe external condition, it is essential to adhere to the strategy of expanding domestic demand. The “Outline (Draft)” focuses on enhancing the endogenous momentum and reliability of the domestic circulation, upholding the close integration of benefiting people’s livelihoods, promoting consumption, investing in both tangible assets and human capital, vigorously boosting consumption, significantly increasing the household consumption rate, and expanding effective investment. It aims to fully leverage the dividends of China’s ultra-large-scale market, advance the construction of a unified national market, and eliminate local protectionism and market segmentation. It seeks to strengthen the drivers of high-quality development, fully stimulate the vitality of various business entities, and accelerate the improvement of the market-oriented allocation system and mechanisms for factors of production. It also emphasizes smoothing the domestic and international dual circulation, and making coordinated and effective use of global resources and markets.

Prioritize Advancing Common Prosperity for all the People

Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all people. The Outline (Draft) focuses on building a fertility-friendly society and improving the population service system; providing education that satisfies the people, with the average years of schooling of the working-age population increased to 11.7 years; accelerating the construction of a Healthy China and a strong sports nation, with the average life expectancy increased to 80 years; actively responding to population aging, with the proportion of nursing beds in elderly care institutions increased to 73%; promoting high-quality and full employment, improving the income distribution system, and enhancing the social security system. It focuses on narrowing regional and urban-rural gaps, accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, continuously consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation, optimizing the layout of major productive forces, and advancing people-centered new-type urbanization. It also aims to promote common prosperity in people’s spiritual and cultural lives, uphold and practice the core socialist values, vigorously develop the cultural sector, accelerate the development of the cultural industry, and enhance the influence and reach of Chinese civilization.

Prioritize the Coordinated Advancement of Development and Security

Security is the prerequisite for development, and development is the guarantee of security. The “Outline (Draft)” implements the overall national security concept and, with a focus on advancing the modernization of the national security system and capabilities, proposes a number of tasks. It aims to enhance the supply security capacity of food, energy and other resources, with a comprehensive food production capacity reaching approximately 725 billion kilograms and a comprehensive energy production capacity reaching 5.8 billion tons of standard coal. It coordinates the orderly resolution of risks in real estate, local government debt, and local small and medium financial institutions. It also seeks to improve public safety governance and effectively maintain social security and stability.

Key Engineering Projects

Focusing on promoting the implementation of the objectives of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and taking into account strategic, guiding, and continuous factors, the “Outline (Draft)” proposes 109 major projects in six sectors.

In terms of leading new-quality productive forces, 28 projects have been proposed focusing on enhancing industrial foundational capabilities and competitiveness, fostering the development of new industries and new tracks, tackling frontier scientific and technological challenges, and improving fundamental innovative capabilities.

In terms of building a modern infrastructure system, 23 projects are proposed focusing on the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, new energy systems, new infrastructure, and platforms for opening up to the outside world.

In terms of promoting the integration of urban and rural areas, nine projects have been proposed focusing on the construction of new-type urbanization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

In terms of safeguarding and improving people’s livelihood, 25 projects are proposed focusing on the prosperous development of socialist culture, the construction of a high-quality education system, the building of a healthy China, the optimization of services for elderly care and child care, and social care services.

In promoting green and low-carbon transformation, 18 projects have been proposed focusing on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, improvement of environmental quality, and ecological protection and restoration. In terms of key areas of safety assurance, 6 projects have been proposed focusing on food and energy security, among others.

These major projects take into account both the present and the future, involving not only investments but also future development. We will focus on using government investment to drive social participation, better leveraging the important roles of major projects in strengthening the foundation, addressing weaknesses, and enhancing future capacity.